M4 clone vs. AR15 performance?

Question

So I put a Bushmaster M4A3 on lay away. So far I've heard conflicting reports. First, I've been told that 16" barrel will not have a good effect on bullet performance (by that I mean yawing and fragmenting, not to mention ballistics), but another group has sad it makes no difference.

I like this rifle. It's compact, light, and fires a decent round. However, I'm used to firing a full-length M-16 weapon. Is there any huge difference between the two on firing?

Serious answers with real evidence. If you're just going to spout some bullshit about what you saw in a movie, don't bother.

Answer 1

The shorter gas system in carbines is less reliable and takes a beating thanks to higher recoil and pressure.

The bullet is also slower and does lose it's ability to fragment after about a 100 yards or so once it drops below 2700 fps I believe.

I wouldn't worry about it..It's not like you're going to be engaging people out that far with it anyway..

Accuracy wise it will probably be more accurate at mid range distances due to the barrel flexing less than the 20 inch.

Answer 2

Pay no attention to the armchair Ar15 experts.... Conflicting reports huh??? Yawing and fragmenting??? what a load of c**p!....These are usually morons that have never fired an Ar15 or an M16....

The bushmaster is a fine rifle..... Of course there are several other manufacturers like DPMS, Rock River Arms, etc, etc that all make a fine rifle and you will see they have legions of fans that think they have the best....

The Bushmaster is a good choice...

Is there a difference between the barrel lengths and how they fire? sure there is but that's not a bad thing at all....  Check out AR15.com for some sensible information....

http://www.ar15.com/

Be sure to check out this .223 cartridge guide.....  There is a lot of useful information on the ammunition your rifle uses and its relationship to barrel length, twist rates and bullet weight...

http://www.6mmbr.com/223Rem.html

Enjoy your Bushmaster and dont let anyone convince you that you didnt make a good choice.... You could drive yourself nuts second guessing yourself.... Dont!

http://www.bushmaster.com/

Answer 3

I've got an RRA 16 inch carbine and it shoots fantastic.

I was at the range last week and was able to pick off 4 inch clay pigeons at 100 yards. Accuracy won't be a problem for you I don't think.

As far as the Carbine length gas system I've never had a problem with it in regards to cleaning or reliability etc.

Longer barrels will probably give a slight edge to bullet fragmentation but I'm sure if you were in a self defense situation the 16inch would work for you.

Practice controlled pairs when you get your rifles and it'll make up for any loss of fragmentation velocity from the 16inch barrel. Anything worth shooting once is worth shooting twice.

Also the military M4 has a 14.5 inch barrel with the flash hider attached brings it to 16" if that weapon didn't do the job we'd have replaced it by now rather than keeping so many in the field.

I wouldn't sweat the 16 inch barrel unless you are shooting way beyond 250 yards.

Answer 4

I'm in the midst of building my own ar-15.  I think it may have something to do with the gas piston.  I'm no expert but I have been searching around the calguns.org forums.  I was told that I shouldnt get a carbine gas system that comes with a 16" upper.  I was told that there is problems with the excess gas and I should invest in a midlength or full length upper as I would have less problems with it in the future.  I was going to get the CMMG Specter upper from riflegear.com but after talking with a few people from the forums and the guy who owns riflegear I decided to go with the CMMG 16" M10 Mid-Length MedCon Upper and have the 4 sided rails installed as its the same look I was going for but with a midlength piston instead of a carbine piston.  well hope this helps a little lol.  

Answer 5

The amount of velocity you get is reduced so at longer ranges the bullet may not have enough energy to fragment well if at all or to cause serious damage. 5.56x45/.223 primarily relies on velocity to achieve the desired effect. Accuracy does not suffer.